Screenlife gets $7 million to develop DVD games

Published 10:00 pm, Tuesday, October 21, 2003

Screenlife, maker of the DVD trivia game SceneIt? has landed $7 million in financing that it will use to develop new games and license its patent-pending technology to other game makers.

The capital infusion, which is expected to close this week, comes after the Downtown Seattle company landed a major distribution, manufacturing and marketing deal with Mattel Inc. four months ago. That deal already has helped propel SceneIt? into dozens of new retail locations, including Wal-Mart, Target and Toys "R" Us. Mattel also plans to do a major advertising blitz for the game before the holiday shopping season.

By the end of the year, Screenlife co-founder Dave Long expects the game to be available in 8,500 stores. That compares with 350 stores at the end of 2002.

"We can be put into significantly more stores than your average board game when you look at utilizing DVD space," Long said. "It can be marketed in the Circuit Citys of the world and the Best Buys of the world where you typically don't see board games."

He declined to disclose sales, saying only that he expects hundreds of thousands of units to be sold by the end of the year. Mattel's version of the game sells for $34, while the company's original version retails for $49. It works on 99 percent of DVD players, Long said.

SceneIt? features clips from 180 movies and more than 400 celebrities. Players attempt to recognize movie scenes in which actors have been digitally removed or identify movies based solely on audio clips from actors. It has more than 700 video questions.

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Screenlife also plans to unveil a new game this month for children and adults. That game includes sports content from major league baseball and the National Basketball Association, animal clips from the Discovery Channel and movie clips. It will retail for $49.

Screenlife employs 16 people. Its financing now totals more than $10 million.